7. Byzantine Aristotle

Articles:

1. Visions of political philosophy in the ‘Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics’ by Michael of Ephesus
   Author: Ilias Vavouras Show more...

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   In this work, in the fragmentary Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics, Michael of Ephesus (1059–1129) says that in nature there are relations of sovereignty and subordination. This relationship validates the view of natural slavery, that there are masters by nature and slaves by nature. The organic use of the slave by the master or of the subject by the sovereign resembles the sovereignty of the soul over the body. In addition, Michael points out that the differentiation between politicians and citizens is not just about governance and subordination, but also about the issue of virtues. A real political man would be an exemplary form of expression of the private and public application of the virtue of justice. This article, I think, highlights the political philosophy in Byzantium and specifically the Aristotelian political philosophy, as it is understood and developed by important thinkers of the same period, such as Michael of Ephesus.

2. Aristotle’s Rhetoric in the Manuals of Byzantine Rhetoric
   Author: Sotiria A. Triantari Show more...

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   Aristotle was the first ancient philosopher to draft a manual of rhetoric containing the definition of rhetoric, its relation with dialectic, the norms of rhetoric, rhetorical techniques, the presentation of the orator’s personality, the psychological and logical persuasion required of an orator, as well as his communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal. The content of Aristotle’s rhetoric, despite the harsh criticism of Byzantine philo-Platonist Theodore Metochites, constituted a source of inspiration for the Byzantines, who wrote few commentaries on Aristotle’s rhetoric, but adopted many elements from his manual in order to express their socio-political ideology through the perception of the aesthetically verbally beautiful. Particularly significant is the fact that the Byzantines inherited from Aristotle the first communication model that was based on the threefold use of language: the theoretical, the practical and the productive or artistic. Frequently, Aristotle’s theory about language in relation to that of Isocrates is found in Byzantine manuals of rhetoric. Aristotle’s rhetoric had a significant impact on the Byzantine perception of the aestheticality and practicality that must imbue the orator’s speech in order that the communicative interaction with his audience be improved. In this way, communication in its modern form was polished by the Byzantine’s contemplation on aesthetically beautiful speech in style and verbal forms.

3. Simplicius on the Principal Meaning of Physis in Aristotle’s Physics II. 1–3
   Author: Melina G. Mouzala Show more...

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   At the beginning of his Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics II.2, Simplicius attempts to reveal the principal meaning of physis, that which in his view is preeminent above all others presented by Aristotle in Physics II.1. Through the arguments he uses to show what the principal meaning of physis is, we are also able to better understand the other meanings. These other meanings are, on the one hand, those which can be indisputably traced in the Aristotelian text itself, and on the other, those which are discovered in the light of Simplicius’ insightful reading of it. Simplicius appears to recognize—or at least to be conscious of the fact—that this part of his Commentary constitutes an autonomous analysis and explanation of the different meanings of physis, which sets out to reveal its concealed principal meaning. My aim in this paper is to show that in his comments on Physics II.1, Simplicius is trying to offer an exegesis of the Aristotelian arguments, while in his comments regarding the beginning of Physics II. 2, he proceeds to a bold reading of what Aristotle has said in chapter one. He does this by giving his own interpretation of the meaning of physis, within the frame which Aristotle had already sketched out in the previous chapter, but also by deviating to some extent from Aristotle. For Simplicius the principal, albeit concealed, meaning of physis, within the Aristotelian philosophical framework, lies in the idea that nature is a sort of propensity for being moved and a sort of life, to wit, the lowest sort of life (eschatē zōē).

4. Aristotelian attraction and repulsion in Byzantium
   Author: Pantelis Golitsis Show more...

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   The present article provides an overview of Aristotle’s fate in Byzantium from the eighth to the fifteenth century. In opposition to accounts that consider Byzantine philosophy either as a mere continua- tion of Greek philosophy or as neutrally disposed towards it, the article argues that the reception of Aristotle’s philosophy in Byzantium (like the reception of Plato’s philosophy) oscillated between enthu- siastic approval and vehement rejection: some Byzantines argued in favour even of Aristotle’s theology, assessed as admirably monotheistic, whereas others associated Aristotelian science with heresy and Thomism. The article discusses these two extreme positions in conjunction with the moderate assess- ment of the Stagirite in Byzantium, which focused on his logic and on topics of his physics in accordance with Byzantine eclecticism.

5. Themistius on ‘Prime Matter’, Aristotle, and the ‘Unwritten Doctrines’ ascribed to Plato
   Author: Elisa Coda Show more...

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   On close inspection, Themistius’ rephrasing of two passages in Physics IV 2, in which Aristotle compares Plato’s Timaeus and the ‘unwritten doctrines’, suggests that he was guided in his understanding by a loose association with the account of Plato’s Ideas in the Metaphysics. Themistius also interprets Aristotle’s remarks about ‘place’ in Timaeus as pointing to the main feature of ‘prime matter’, namely indetermination.